Disclaimer: see chapter 1

11: EPILOGUE

She took his hand, rubbing the white skin with her thumb. "Tonight's been wonderful. Stop worrying."

He smiled an unsure smile. "I don't...Okay, I do worry. But I'm always a bit afraid...that you'll change your mind." She was so beautiful, so perfect in every way...How did she end up with him?

"Then it would officially be the stupidest thing I've ever done. It would even top breaking up with you the first time."

He exhaled the ghost of a laugh. He wanted that on tape.

She really couldn't believe she'd broken up with him that time. It was definitely at the top of a long list of Buffy mess-ups. He'd been helping her feel alive – which is a good thing, she reminded herself – and she'd just ended it all because it wasn't a fairy tale romance.

But fairy tales never have vampires and Slayers, do they?

Riley and Sam had what she thought was perfect. The way they treated each other...the way they felt about each other...the way you looked at them and knew they could live the rest of their lives together, just from the way they smiled...Spike had given her that, and more, and the only problem with what they'd had was she hadn't accepted it. Or returned it. Spike was the perfect boyfriend, and I was just another Drusilla. Giving him nothing of what he deserved.

I could have had a perfect relationship, right then and there, if I'd just said "Fuck morality" and let myself love him.

Spike and Buffy looked up to let the waiter take their plates. She loved how he ate human food, even though he didn't need to. And she realized she always had.

"Want a drink, luv?"

"Sure."

The waiter waltzed off with the order. Buffy watched Spike's face as he stared off into space. She'd always thought he was hot, but she'd never realized how much of his intelligence and his enormous capability to love decorated his expression. When he looked at her, he made her a goddess. Buffy felt that she could love being a goddess for the rest of her life without ever tiring of it.

The cover band began playing a song. Buffy knew it was old, probably from one of those early rock bands that had been popular when her mom had been young.

Two of us riding nowhere
spending someone's hard earned pay
You and me Sunday driving
Not arriving on our way back home
We're on our way back home
We're on our way home
We're going home

The lyrics intrigued her, and she once again had the sensation that she was the star of the movie of her life, and there was a soundtrack playing around her. She kept staring at her boyfriend, her vampire, as he watched couples hanging off each other and dancing to the music.

He wants to dance, Buffy realized. But he's never going to ask.

"C'mon, Spike." She pulled him by the hand she held, leading him onto the dance floor.

"Pet..." He'd never danced with her before. It was one of many things he'd never done with her. He'd never shared with her a gentle, loving kiss. He'd never sat on the grass, watching fire works and cradling her in his arms. He'd never been able to speak the words my girlfriend. He'd never woken up beside her in the morning.

Two of us sending postcards
writing letters on my wall
You and me burning matches
lifting latches on our way back home
We're on our way back home
We're on our way home
We're going home

Buffy draped her arms around the back of his neck, and Spike's hands found a comfortable spot in the small of her back. He remembered so many times when he wanted to hold her like this, but instead he'd grabbed her roughly because she'd wanted it. He was now walking through a dream she'd never let him have.

You and I have memories
longer that that road
that stretches out ahead

Two of us wearing raincoats
standing solo in the sun
You and me chasing paper
getting nowhere on our way back home

There were so many things he had done with her. He'd known her for so long, their history stretched out so far behind them, and yet he still had no idea what lay before them. He just felt that somewhere ahead was a comfortable place where they both belonged.

We're on our way back home
We're on our way home
We're going home

"Spike?" She spoke softly, but right into his ear. "There's something I really want to say to you. I realized that I'm really lucky. Lucky to have you, lucky to have a second chance, or whatever this I realized, you're perfect. We're perfect."

He grinned, and pulled back a little so he could look into her eyes. "Just like you wanted, huh, pet."

You and I have memories
longer that that road
that stretches out ahead

The waiter came up near them, and tapped Spike's shoulder to get his attention. "Sir? Miss? Your drinks are ready –"

"Just put them on the table," Buffy told him. She didn't really want them now.

She snuggled into Spike, as close as physically possible. She could feel the delightful contours of his body: his comfortable chest, his muscular stomach, his erection poking into her abdomen...He could feel her breasts mashed up against him, and the slight weight of her head resting on his shoulder.

Two of us wearing raincoats
standing solo in the sun
You and me chasing paper
getting nowhere on our way back home

Spike decided he would have to get some new furniture. A new bed was a definite necessity, but having a bureau and maybe a wardrobe would be nice too. He knew she had a lot of clothes to fill them up.

It will be great, patrolling with him again, Buffy fantasized. The way we tease each other while we're waiting for a fight, and then the way we work together, like we know what the other one's gonna do next...

We really have danced before, he admitted to himself. All we've ever done, really.

We're on our way back home
We're on our way home
We're going home
We're going home

THE END, FOR REAL. (Except for the sequel. And honestly, there IS supposed to be a sequel to this. It will come in time...)
Song credit: Two of Us, by the Beatles

Thanks to those who reviewed, both the first time and this time. And if anyone has any requests or suggestions or tips or ANYTHING regarding the sequel, please let me hear whatever you have to say, because the sequel is in this kind of disturbing state of unplanned unwrittenness, so I'm really open to reader input. My only plans for it involve some Wesley/Illyria thread, something with Dawn (possibly a romance) and maybe a Willow/Kennedy breakup (I never liked that brat...) and of course lots of Spuffy goodness. So...review, and give me tips, and enjoy reading other good fics while you wait for my sequel :)